Empowering Reads (21-30)

Empowering Reads (21-30)

#21 Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist

Champion Recommends: Always Looking Up

Micheal J. Fox has enjoyed incredible successes in life. For many people, a diagnosis and the subsequent challenges of Parkinson’s disease would be the end of any optimistic feelings about life…for Micheal, this drives him to dig deeper to protect and nurture these precious traits. We found it to be a very inspiring read.

About the Book

There are many words to describe Michael J. Fox: Actor. Husband. Father. Activist. But readers of Always Looking Up will soon add another to the list: Optimist. Michael writes about the hard-won perspective that helped him see challenges as opportunities. Instead of building walls around himself, he developed a personal policy of engagement and discovery: an emotional, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual outlook that has served him throughout his struggle with Parkinson’s disease. Michael’s exit from a very demanding, very public arena offered him the time-and the inspiration-to open up new doors leading to unexpected places. One door even led him to the center of his own family, the greatest destination of all.

The last ten years, which is really the stuff of this book, began with such a loss: my retirement from Spin City. I found myself struggling with a strange new dynamic: the shifting of public and private personas. I had been Mike the actor, then Mike the actor with PD. Now was I just Mike with PD Parkinson’s had consumed my career and, in a sense, had become my career. But where did all of this leave Me? I had to build a new life when I was already pretty happy with the old one..

Always Looking Up is a memoir of this last decade, told through the critical themes of Michael’s life: work, politics, faith, and family. The book is a journey of self-discovery and reinvention, and a testament to the consolations that protect him from the ravages of Parkinson’s.

Categories: Autobiography; Memoir

#22 Close Your Tab & Don’t Look Back: A Guide to Getting Out of Debt and Getting Ahead in the Real World

Champion Recommends: Close Your Tab & Don’t Look Back

Angela Ozar offers grounded, sound advice and wisdom about the difficult subject of repaying student loans and how to achieve financial independence. We found her writing style to be refreshing and so we invited her to become a guest contributor at ChampionEmpowerment.com!

About the Book

If you were gifted debt along with your diploma, and you are afraid of what comes after “the best four years of your life,” this book is for you. I’ve been there, and just like finals week, I survived (by repaying $30K in 3 years instead of 20). And you will, too.

Life after college doesn’t have to be intimidating. Let me be your translator for the important stuff so you can enjoy the perks of your new life. I’ll cut through the complicated so you can understand your government student loan and have a practical plan to pay it off quickly, (because no one wants to be celebrating their 40th birthday and still making payments on their loan).

“As a recent college grad, this book became my survival guide. This entertaining read became my go-to source while navigating the crazy world that awaits postgrad. Angela answered the questions I was afraid to ask and gave me advice before I even knew I would need it. She became the big sister I never had and instilled me with a sense of confidence in not only the way I manage my money, but also in my future.” (Caitlin, class of 2017).

Categories: Business and Money; Personal Finance

#23 Eat, Pray, Love

Champion Recommends: Eat, Pray, Love

So what if you had it all—great job, handsome husband, awesome home—and you are still miserable? That is exactly what happened to Elizabeth Gilbert and she chose to leave all her success behind and go on an incredible journey to Italy, India and Indonesia to go on a journey of self-discovery.

About the Book

Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love touched the world and changed countless lives, inspiring and empowering millions of readers to search for their own best selves. Now, this beloved and iconic book returns in a beautiful 10th anniversary edition, complete with an updated introduction from the author, to launch a whole new generation of fans.

In her early thirties, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern American woman was supposed to want—husband, country home, successful career—but instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed by panic and confusion. This wise and rapturous book is the story of how she left behind all these outward marks of success, and set out to explore three different aspects of her nature, against the backdrop of three different cultures: pleasure in Italy, devotion in India, and on the Indonesian island of Bali, a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence.

Categories: Memoir; Self-help

#24 Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting, Expanded Study Edition: The Astonishing Power of Feelings

Champion Recommends: Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting

This book will help you change your focus and look for things to feel good about. Grabhorn’s writing style is fun, wacky and memorable. She helps you learn how to focus on what you want, to eliminate negativity and allow good things will come into your life.

About the Book

Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting asks you to stop second guessing yourself and start believing in what you can achieve through the power of positive feelings. Have you ever been so wrapped up in day-to-day life that you stop paying attention to how you’re feeling? Something goes wrong and you blame other people. The key to getting back on the right track is simple: focus inward, on what it would feel like to have it all go right. And it will.

Lynn Grabhorn reveals how to invite the positive to you by focusing on what you want. She shows that all it takes is a few bursts of pure, intense concentration. Allow yourself to start believing in what you can accomplish instead of what you can’t and cut down on those negative feelings. Follow Grabhorn’s simple steps and soon you’ll be attracting the things you really want.

“Whether your want is to find the fastest way around the traffic downtown or to find a new mate, all you have to do is pay attention to the signs that will come to make it happen…and learn to trust them!”—from the book

Includes a 16-page study guide–for individual and group use.

Categories: Self-help; Inspiration

#25 How To Talk To Anyone: Overcome Shyness, Social Anxiety and Low Self-confidence & Be Able to Chat to Anyone!

Champion Recommends: How to Talk to Anyone

If you are shy or feel awkward in social situations, this book will give you practical insight you can put to work in to feel more confident when interacting with others.

About the Book

The fear of talking to people is very real and effects millions of people—but fortunately it is completely curable. Overcome it fast with easy practical steps.

Feeling incapable of chatting to people is a horrific curse and one which can effect every part of your life. Don’t let it ruin your life. Overcoming shyness, social anxiety and low self-confidence fast. Get on with your life!

Here’s a preview of what you’ll learn when you buy this book:

Overcome conversational obstacles fast

The secret trick that makes conversation so much easier!

Quickly overcome difficult thoughts, feelings & bad habits

Do not let social anxiety hold your back

What people want from a conversation & how to deliver it

The top 15 skills required to be a great conversationalist

Dealing with specific difficult circumstances

Get over shyness fast, day by day

and much more.

Categories: Self-help; Communication Skills

#26 Is It Time to Make a Change?

Champion Recommends: Is It Time to Make a Change?

This powerful little book of poetry and prose is set in a beautifully designed package that has been created to inspire readers…especially those experiencing great life changes.

“Life is a journey through time, filled with may choices; each of us will experience life in our own special way. So when the days come that are filled with frustration and unexpected responsibilities, remember to believe in yourself and all you want your life to be, because the challenges and changes will only help you to find the dreams that you know are meant to come true for you.”
― Deanna Beisser

About the Book

In this candid and upbeat first collection of her work, Deanna Beisser gives new meaning to the statement, “Anything is possible.” Her words capture all the doubts, fears, and excitement that occur whenever a life change is contemplated. Yet her refreshingly down-to-earth attitude and life-only-happens-once-so-enjoy-it! philosophy are quick to put the reader at ease. In short, this is a book about letting your life be the wonderful adventure it is meant to be.

The opportunity to redirect your life’s path and begin anew exists every day. The only person holding you back is you, and the only way your life is going to change is when you decide it is. Whether it’s a little motivation you need or a reminder of the power you have within you to make things happen, this book is the perfect place to start. After that, it’s up to you, because… “Life makes no guarantees as to what you’ll have. It just gives you time to make choices, and to take chances, and to discover whatever secrets might come your way.” – Deanna Beisser

Categories: Fiction; Poetry; Literature

#27 Job Hunter Road: Comedy and Self-Help on the Path to Finding a Job

Champion Recommends: Job Hunter Road

If you are getting ready to look for a job, read this book! Job hunting can be brutal and overwhelming but this little book will give you excellent pointers on dealing with your search and make you laugh about the absurdities of the process. Highly recommended.

About the Book

A hilarious look at what it takes to find a job that you love. With sharp and irreverent humor, Job Hunter Road tackles some serious questions about finding work today: “Why don’t more people love their jobs?” “Why do we make it so hard to change careers?” “Why do we require unnecessary and expensive degrees for everything?” “What does it take to be an entrepreneur?” “Does networking have to be so ugly and opportunistic?” “What stops us from reaching our career potential?”

Journey down an unpredictably quirky highway of laughter as you encounter opera loving cats, crocodile hunting terriers, and levitating job seekers on the road to a more fulfilling career.

Champion Recommends: Mindful Money

There are many good books out there that will teach you about finances—this one takes a different path because it helps you to look broadly into your own spiritual relationship with money and then create a plan, unique to your deepest beliefs, to achieve and maintain financial freedom.

About the Book

Is it possible to be a conscientious citizen of the world and grow wealth? The author, a Buddhist and a financial planner, says yes and explains exactly how. Money drives many of our decisions. We all worry about earning it, spending it, and saving it — regardless of our income level or spiritual perspective. Yet few of us understand money’s true nature. Jonathan K. DeYoe helps you create a unique financial plan that is guided by your deepest beliefs, and shows you how to save, invest, pay off debt, and fund your retirement and dreams by building a lifetime income stream. With a foreword by Pulitzer Prize–winner Alice Walker, Mindful Money does all this while emphasizing that money is a tool you can use to support your lifestyle, reach your goals, and earn the “happiness dividend” everyone deserves.

Journey down an unpredictably quirky highway of laughter as you encounter opera loving cats, crocodile hunting terriers, and levitating job seekers on the road to a more fulfilling career.

Categories: Business & Money; Finance

#29 Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era

Champion Recommends: Most Likely to Succeed

The current education system is long overdue for an overhaul. This book and the documentary give new methods to integrate into our schools and home that will help lead the next generation away from being not regurgitators and instead become a nation of amazing innovators.

About the Book

The basis for a major documentary, two leading experts sound an urgent call for the radical reimagining of American education so we can equip students for the realities of the twenty-first-century economy. “If you read one book about education this decade, make it this one” (Adam Braun, bestselling author and founder of Pencils of Promise).

Today more than ever, we prize academic achievement, pressuring our children to get into the “right” colleges, have the highest GPAs, and pursue advanced degrees. But while students may graduate with credentials, by and large they lack the competencies needed to be thoughtful, engaged citizens and to get good jobs in our rapidly evolving economy. Our school system was engineered a century ago to produce a workforce for a world that no longer exists. Alarmingly, our methods of schooling crush the creativity and initiative young people really need to thrive in the twenty-first century.

Now bestselling author and education expert Tony Wagner and venture capitalist Ted Dintersmith call for a complete overhaul of the function and focus of American schools, sharing insights and stories from the front lines, including profiles of successful students, teachers, parents, and business leaders. Their powerful, urgent message identifies the growing gap between credentials and competence—and offers a framework for change.

Most Likely to Succeed presents a new vision of American education, one that puts wonder, creativity, and initiative at the very heart of the learning process and prepares students for today’s economy. “In this excellent book…Wagner and Dintersmith argue…that success and happiness will depend increasingly on having the ability to innovate” (Chicago Tribune), and this crucial guide offers policymakers and opinion leaders a roadmap for getting the best for our future entrepreneurs.

Journey down an unpredictably quirky highway of laughter as you encounter opera loving cats, crocodile hunting terriers, and levitating job seekers on the road to a more fulfilling career.

Categories: Education; Teaching; Parenting

#30 One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com

Champion Recommends: One Click

In the last 20 years, Amazon is the one business that has influenced the methods virtually every business on the planet uses. Read this book to get insights from employees and competitors on how Amazon rose to become so influential and use it as inspiration to develop your own plans.

About the Book

Amazon’s business model is deceptively simple: Make online shopping so easy and convenient that customers won’t think twice. It almost can be summed up by the button on every page: “Buy now with one click.”

Why has Amazon been so successful? Much of it has to do with Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO, whose unique combination of character traits and business strategy has driven Amazon to the top of the online retail world. Richard Brandt charts Bezos’s rise from computer nerd to world-changing entrepreneur.

Through interviews with Amazon employees, competitors, and observers, Brandt has deciphered how Bezos makes decisions. The story of Amazon’s ongoing evolution is a case study in how to reinvent an entire industry, and one that businesses today ignore at their peril.